Sweet shifts and time in the saddle

I got in several good rides this week. I did tempo on Wednesday. This was a very good workout. I felt strong and had fresh legs. I did about 25 minutes to warm up then hit it at tempo uphill for 35 minutes in the National Park. The temperatures are definitely much cooler in the Park. I didn’t wear arm or leg warmers, but I needed them, especially on the descent out of the Park. I did a form sprint workout Thursday. This is just a set of 10 short sprints to work on form, not power. I sprint for 10-15 seconds at a high cadence and concentrate on keeping my head up, back flat and pedaling circles. Sounds like a very easy workout, but, if all is done correctly, it can be pretty tough by the end of the session. I have just beaten the sunset each night. It gets dark quickly in the foothills. My narrow road is especially dark as I make my way back home. I am using both a flashing tail and headlight already. Seems too early to start such things, but it has been necessary. I have also been racing against the weather a few times. I got a few sprinkles in the Park Wednesday and this evening I will be very lucky if I can get my ride in before the rain gets here. The forecast says it will be raining by 5:00pm. If that is correct, it will be raining before I can get started. I only have a 1 hour ride of single leg drills planned. If the rain is falling, I’ll probably be on the trainer. I don’t mind getting caught in the rain, but I do hate to start in the rain. My biggest concern, however, is getting sick. I can’t really afford that right now so why take the chance when I don’t HAVE to. I want to get the training in, but if I miss one ride here and there due to bad weather, isn’t that better than missing 2 weeks due to illness and having to rebuild that lost fitness? I think yes.
Now a bit of technical stuff; I recently put new cables, housings and bar tape on the Cervélo. It shifts SO much crisper now. It is really SWEET. My next change is going from a SRAM chain to a Shimano Dura Ace. I have never been happy with the SRAM chain. While cleaning the chain, it just feels rough and “unfinished” ad you back pedal and run the chain through a sponge or rag. My Orbea has a Shimano chain and it is MUCH smoother. The Shimano is also much quieter. I am curious to see if the SRAM setup will be a little quieter after the chain swap. I will post the results of this little experience ASAP.

Feeling the Pain

I rode every day last week. I took a well deserved day off Sunday. I put in my time on the bike as well as doing circuit/interval training via DVD every night. I am and have been sore for a solid week now.
I got in a very nice 62 mile group ride Saturday. We had a Pro 1-2 racer show up and, of course, egos flared a few times. It was all in good fun though. I felt very strong the entire ride. I stayed in the front 1/3 of the group most of the time and even went back to pull riders back to the group a couple of times. I did get off course at one point. Nature called and I had to stop. The group was out of sight quickly and I gave chase. I knew of 2 possible routes they would take. I blew by the turn I guessed they could have taken because I knew if they went straight that they would stop at a store on the route. I arrived to find no riders at the store. When I finally caught up to the group, they were stopped at a church. My little detour added about 2.5-3 miles to my ride.
Monday I got in my weight workout and another DVD workout. I didn’t get any time on the bike, but I was only supposed to do an hour of easy spinning.
Today it was pouring rain and I opted to do the weekly Wednesday grocery shopping instead because the weather is supposed to be nicer on Wednesday and I need to put in a solid effort on a tempo ride. I pretty much did nothing today other than walk a mile during a break at work. I was just dragging and tired all day. I hope to get up early and do a DVD workout before work tomorrow, get in the ride after work and do another post ride DVD session. A busy day ahead for sure.

Turning the pedals

Wow, it has been a while. Last week was a RAINY one. I got in only a couple of rides. The one I remember clearly was a tempo ride I did in the National Park. A 30 minute warm up followed by 45 painfully hard minutes at the top of my tempo power range. I was COMPLETELY spent by the time my cool down came around. I could not stand on the pedals. My legs were literally like limp pasta. I’d try to stand and nearly fall over. My only thought was “how am I going to climb the hill on the way home?” Somehow, I recovered before I got to the hill of truth. I came close to pulling off the road and calling for a ride to get me back home. I can’t remember being so wasted on the bike in quite some time.
This week started with an easy 20 mile spin on Monday followed by a full body weight circuit and a fitness test for a video workout series I am starting. It is called INSANITY and from the fit test, I’d say it will be. I know I was already tired going into the test, but it kicked my butt. I am supposed to take the test every 2 weeks to monitor my progress. This is a 60 day program that I am doing as a supplement to my cycle training to kick my cardio/endurance up a few levels. I have the first real workout tonight after I do 2 hours on the bike. The downfall is that I have a killer headache today that I can’t seem to shake. I will have to push through it and get it all done.
I did the first Insanity workout Tuesday night and it kicked my butt. Today I did another tempo ride. What a difference a week makes. I was supposed to do a 30 minute warm up, 30 minutes of tempo and cool down for 30 minutes. My 30 minutes of tempo turned into 50 minute. I felt great, very strong. The temperature along the river was pretty chilly. I had arm warmers, knee warmers and a wind vest. My feet got pretty cold, but I was okay other than that. Shoe covers next time for sure. I have to make up my Insanity workout in the morning. I got finished with my ride too late to do it tonight. I’ll either be in great shape in 60 days or this will continue to wear me out!

Braving the gym

DO NOT OVERDO IT. Those were the words of my coach this morning in my daily email. Leg day at the gym. I think I may have over done it. Not really. I kept the weight moderate, but I am definitely going to be sore tomorrow. I feel it already. I did a 10 minute warm up then 2 sets each of squats, presses, extensions, curls, calf raises, kick backs, hip abductions and hip adductions. I followed this up with 20 minutes of cardio. In and out of the gym in about an hour. I am going to sleep well tonight.

Lazy and unmotivated

I have done almost nothing for 2 weeks. I did a 50 mile ride last Saturday and not much more. I have tried to get in a couple miles of walking each day, but that's about it. I have been VERY unmotivated to get to the gym or out on the bike. I guess I just needed a break more than I realized. I have to snap out of this though. I want to go for a state jersey next season and the prep for that has to start very soon. I have to MAKE myself get to the gym next week, no excuses. My goal, beginning in October is to lose 2 pounds a month. That should put me at a great "race" weight by the start of the season. I HAVE been spending too much time on ebay. Nice additions to my cycling gear though...see the photos. I hope I will be posting more about fall/winter training beginning Monday. Send your motivational vibes my way...

Easy does it

September is my month "off". I am taking it pretty easy. I did a quick, easy 40 minutes on the bike Tuesday. I'll try and get another ride in Thursday and a longer one on Saturday. Some gym time is on the schedule this week and maybe some yoga. I am going to try and get more serious with my nutrition before the training kicks up again in October and November. My coach suggested maybe hiking some as cross training. I may do that as the temperatures get cooler. Sleep awaits me now.

Catching up and kicking back

Wow, it’s been a while since I did a blog post. Just no time I guess. Where to begin…I guess with my trip to Greenville, SC. A friend and I headed out last Sunday morning about 8:30 am to attend the US Pro National Championship Road Race. We made excellent time and got there in 3 hours just as Bing mapping and our GPS predicted. Go figure. We had about an hour and a half before the race started, so we decided to grab something to eat (this turned into our theme for the day). We stopped at the natural health food stop of cyclist everywhere, Hardees. Yeah, right, can you feel your arteries clogging up? We royally pigged out then headed to the race. The crowds were already starting to line the barriers around the start/finish line. We made our way to the Hincapie VIP tent and got our bracelets to allow us unlimited access to the area. We quickly, upon surveying the set up, realized we’d mad a huge mistake by stopping to eat. There was a buffet set up with Stick Fingers BBQ. There were ribs, baked chicken, potato salad, baked beans, peach cobbler, cookies, wine, beer, water, and sodas, all free and all you cared to have. The buffet would not be lost on us. I mean who were we to insult our host by not making use of their efforts to supply us with primo eats?
Next we made our way to the vendor section of the festivities and located the Hincapie booth. There I presented out ticket and got our white Hincapie bracelets that were to serve as our passes into the party later that evening.
I’d printed photos that I had taken at previous races to try and get autographed. On our way back to the VIP tent, I saw Dave Zabriskie after he’d signed in for the race. I quickly fumbled through my photos and found one of him and me. He graciously autographed it. I got George Hincapie to sign my photo with him in the VIP tent. He came over and spent a few minutes after signing in. It was pretty cool to be there and get to hang with George for a while. We got more photos with him there. Fast Freddie Rodriguez was also in the VIP tent with George. Once they left, we had to partake in the food. SOOOO good. We left and perused the crowd for a while. I snagged the podium girls as they came off the stage and got photos with them. I kind of have a history of doing this at these races. It’s a sickness that I have not found a cure for. I guess seeking a cure might aid in its discovery? Who has the time? I wasn’t able to get to some riders to get my photos signed, but there will be another time. We watched the circuits of the race before the riders rolled out of town. Dave Z took a flyer right from the start and stayed away solo for almost 50 miles. He’d won the National Time Trial Championship the previous day (4th time). We watched the race on the big screen in the VIP tent. We grazed the buffet during the 4 ½ hour race. We ate WAY too much. The riders made the loop through town 3 or 4 times throughout the race. The crowd went ballistic every time George came through. Greenville is his home town and he was the favorite to win the race. He was very quiet in the race until the last 4 laps of the final circuits. He started moving up and on the last lap he came around the last corner, playing cat and mouse with a couple of the riders. Then he jumped and it was all over. He took the race as predicted.
Great finish! We played the part of cycling groupies to a pro level and tried to find the area where the teams were gathering after the race. We failed miserably. They were like ghosts after the race. They vanished into thin air giving us no opportunity for photos or autographs. No worries, only a short wait until the Hincapie party.
We arrived at the party a few minutes after 7:00 pm. MORE BBQ! We had already stuffed ourselves at the VIP tent, but we could not resist. We ate outside as the live band started playing. As the night went on, the venue became far too small for the number of people turning out. George and his wife Melanie arrived around 9:00 pm just in time for the start of the fashion show that showcased the new Hincapie line. Jason McCartney, a rider for SaxoBank was actually one of the “models” in the show. The other models were George’s friends and family. Afterwards, there was an auction of a painting of George that brought in major coin for a local charity. We meet George’s dad and his brother. Again, we snagged George for more photo ops. The highlight of our evening was getting photos with Melanie as we were leaving the party. She was the most gracious of the day about posing for photos. We made our way to the car and found Fast Freddie hanging out in the parking lot. I asked why he wasn’t in the party. He said he wasn’t invited and laughed. We think he was probably going out with George and Melanie after the party.
It was a great day and night. The drive home was a recap of the day’s events. I was starting to dose about 2 hours into the ride home. We got in around 1:30 am. Luckily, I’d had the foresight to take the day off, so I was able to sleep in Monday.
I got in a couple of easy spin days on the bike in the following days. It was mostly a recovery week. I did a 60 mile ride Saturday and today I am kicking back, catching up with the blog as the rain falls outside.
I have weight training and a short ride tomorrow, though it looks like I may be facing more showers tomorrow.

Pro Race and "After Party"

Still in full recovery, not doing a thing, lazier than ever, can't seem to drag my butt of the couch mode. I am heading to Greenville, SC in the morning to watch the US Pro National Championship Road Race. I have passes to get into the Hincapie VIP tent for the race and the Hincapie headquaters for their after party Sunday night. Our club gets 2 passes each year and I got first dibs on them this year. Good times! I have several photos from past Tours de Georgia that I hope to get autographed. Especially the one posted here previously of me and George Hincapie. I am such a cycling groupie. My training will resume next week. I gave my coach the heads up that I might not be up to it Monday, after the late night, but Tuesday I'll have to get back to the grind and start the off season work.

Post season

With my last race of the season behind me, I went for a leisurely ride yesterday. Just an hour of easy spinning with a friend/team mate. I got word from my coach today that I should take it easy this week and get ready to start post season, off the bike, training next week. I am kind of looking forward to the change of pace. Weight training, yoga, core work and plyometrics will be some of the things I'll be focusing on. I know this type of training can be just as challenging as on the bike training, but I will welcome the challenge. Change is always good in a training program. It keeps it fresh and shocks the system, a good thing.

Bikes, bodies and bottles

Friday I went out on my time trial bike just to run through the gears and make sure everything was functioning as it should. I was only out for about 40 minutes. I didn’t go too hard, just easy to moderate spinning. When I got home, I washed the road bike I’d be racing Saturday morning. After putting the race wheel set on and lubing all the components, I loaded the bike in the Element and got my gear together.
Saturday morning I was up for breakfast by 5:00 a.m. My race was scheduled to start at 8:20 a.m. I had to drive about an hour, check in at registration and hoped to warm up at least 30-40 minutes. This meant I’d need to leave by 6:30 or 6:45 a.m. Of course, I was late getting on the road, but, as seems to happen more times than not, the race was not starting on time and was about 20 minutes behind schedule. No complaint from me as I needed the extra time. I checked in got my bib numbers and quickly pinned them on my jersey and got ready. I warmed up a little, but hoped that the neutral start would also serve as a warm up. This would be about 2 miles of riding before the race official gave us the okay to start racing. I talked with 3 other riders who were representing our club/team. I had raced with 2 of these guys before. I knew what to expect from these 2 and hoped we could work together throughout the race. There were 52 pre-registered for this race and several had signed up this morning. This was a huge field, the largest I’d ever been a part of.
A CAT 4 race can take many forms. It can be just beyond a CAT 5 race some days, rival a CAT 3 race others and fall anywhere in between most of the time. Today’s race started at a moderate pace. I was able to warm up before the accelerations started, as they always do. But, like a CAT 5 race, there was WAY too much go and stop. Riders would speed up and slow for no apparent reason. JUST GO ALREADY!
The conditions were great Saturday morning. The temperature was mid to high 70’s, no wind and dry. There had been storms at home during the night, but Oak Ridge had not been hit by them. I was glad of this because there are a couple of fast, curvy descents on this course.
The first lap (1 of 2 - 24 mile loops) was good. One hazard we had not expected was that the county had dug a ditch across the road on Thursday. They filled it back in, but poorly. There was a definite dip in the road that could jar you pretty good. One team member in the Masters 50+ race broke his seat post at this point. Our group had no problems crossing it either lap. There were 1 or 2 attempted breaks off the front, but they were shut down very quickly without much effort. I managed to stay at the front of the group on all the climbs. I never fell back further than about 10-15 riders from the front. I was feeling very good. 2/3 of the way through the first lap, on a right turn in a slight descent, the group pulled one of those go and stop moves and I had to hit my brakes pretty hard to avoid slamming into my team mate. My rear tire locked up and I slid sideways for a split second. I released the brake and managed to straighten up correct. My other mishap was road kill. The group parted and I swerved right to miss a dead opossum. I ran over the front feet. “I hope his claws were facing down” was my comment to the rider next to me. I sure didn’t want a opossum induced puncture. The second lap was a little faster. Again, there were a couple of attempts to get away off the front. They didn’t get far before being brought back into the group. This was really a bit of a surprise because there were 2 or 3 teams in the race with 6-8 riders each. I’d have thought they would have had a better strategy since this was the TN State Road Race Championship. The climbs were more intense this time around as the pace was increasing. The lead riders tried to get a gap on each climb, but had no luck. I was still feeling really strong and was sure I could hang with the front of the group till the end of the race. I was on my team mate’s wheel up until about 3 or 4k to go. I lost his wheel to another rider somehow. I was pushed out and ended up on the left side of the lane right on the double yellow line. No worries, I still had good positioning in the field. Once we went under the 1k to go banner the pace kicked. It was on and about to be over. The finish line was soon in sight when chaos ensued and the horrendous, familiar, dreaded sound that no rider wants to hear or be in close proximity to became all too real. CRASH!!! NASTY CRASH, right in front of me. (looked much like the attached picture) “Oh, S*@T!!! I’m going down!” was all that was going through my head. I jerked the bars to the left only to see this massive pile of bikes, bodies and bottles sliding across the center line. I corrected and swerved to the right. There was a bike summer saluting in the air about 6 feet in the air. I pedaled harder and somehow, made it through the carnage unscathed. The field sprint was on. I tucked low and hammered with all I had. The crash had opened the sprint up for some and hindered others. I was in the latter. I pulled past 2 riders and was gaining on a 3rd when he looked over his shoulder, saw me nearing and found a little more bite in his stride. He crossed the line 6 inches in front of me. I was glad to be over the line, surprised I had actually been in the sprint and relieved I had not been involved in the crash. My team mate had seized the opportunity he’d been given and crossed the line in second place. I finished 13th. I was VERY happy with that result. I have progressively gotten better results this season and hope this trend will continue as I stick to my training throughout the rest of the year and into next season. The crash had left one rider with a broken collar bone, one with stitches in his arm, lots of road rash and one trashed bike frame.
I drove home shortly after the race for a 2.5 hour rest before driving back for the evening time trial. Once again, the event was behind schedule by ½ an hour, then 45 minutes and finally an hour. I was supposed to start at 6:02:30 p.m. I finally rolled off the starting line around 7:03 p.m. The route was rolling terrain on a closed course. I had gotten in 30 minutes on the trainer and another 15 on the road before lining up to start. My legs were still fatigued from the road race and I couldn’t quite get my breathing down. The course was 8.24 miles (according to my GPS). I finished 16th with a time of 20:39 at an average speed of 23.9 mph. Not a great time, but respectable.
Sunday, doing absolutely NOTHING, just recovering and watching movies with the family.

Nice day despite the forecast

I got back from my ride about an hour and a half ago. Great ride, despite the forecast. They missed it AGAIN. I felt a few faint sprinkles on the way out but that's about it. It was blazin' hot. I did a new workout today, sprint intervals till ya puke, I think they are called. If not, they should be. I did 5 sets of 1 minute all out sprint efforts followed by 5 minutes of recovery. Complete recovery, because these were HARD one minute efforts. I literally thought I'd puke on the last 2. The 5 minutes between went by like a flash while the 1 minute of work seemed to last a lifetime. No complaints, mind you, that's what the workout is intended to do, push you to your limit, catch your breath and do it again x 5. I had a nice tail wind going out, but a relentless head wind coming back. I was out for an hour and 7 minutes. It seemed a lot longer. I spun the pedals easy on the cool down back to the house. Chocolate milk for a recovery drink and a turkey BLT 30 minutes later. Now I am sitting with my legs elevated, typing this and having a cup of freshly ground and brewed hazelnut coffee, ahhhh.

A bump in the road

No ride today, worked later than usual and I got home around 7:30, no time to get out on the bike. I may try and get in 2 rides or 1 two hour ride tomorrow. I'll have to see how I feel. I have to get it done early though. I have dinner reservations at 7:30 tomorrow night, 15th wedding anniversary.

Race prep

Monday I went out for a group ride to get in a little speed work. I got what I was looking for. This ride has really gotten fast this year. We averaged about 24-27 mph at most times, hitting 30 and 31 on some flat stretches of road. It was actually MORE than I wanted. I don't want to go too hard this week. I have to taper my work by week's end to be fresh for Saturday's road race and time trial. I did not feel 100% on the ride. I did shorter pulls on the front than usual. I kept thinking to myself, "ride smart now to ride strong later".
Today I almost didn't get out the door for my training. Just one of those lazy days I guess. I finally got in gear and went for a 1 hour ride concentrating on high cadence spin ups. I did 10 of these with plenty of recovery between. I felt much better today. The hour was over very quickly. I was glad I got out and did the work. Despite the forecast, I didn't see any rain, just cloudy skies and a little wind. The rest of the week I have about an hour a day to ride. Wednesday and Thursday are specific workouts. Friday is just a run through of my pre-race warm up then home to put the legs up. Race day will be here before I know it. Rest, ride, relax and eat right. Easy, right?

Reconnaissance mission

Saturday I rode the TN State Road Race course with a team mate and a few other riders. It is going to be a challenging course at race pace. We did the 24 mile loop twice, just as we will in the race this weekend. I took a while to warm up, but felt pretty good after about ½ of the first lap. I’ll definitely get in a good, long warm up on Saturday before the race. The first 2 hills should be okay. I think the group will likely stay together for the first lap. Once we get onto a stretch of busy highway there are 3 more rolling climbs that could prove to be significant. They kind of catch you off guard. There are rumble strips cut into the road right on the white line at the right of the lane. I had the misfortune to get into this section and it about jarred my teeth out. One of my water bottles came out of the cage and I ran over it with my rear wheel. I lost about ½ of the water which cause me to go very sparingly on my water intake for the rest of the ride. I was sooo thirsty by the end of the ride. And famished I might add. It was just my team mate and I at the end of the final lap. Everyone else had dropped off or taken a shorter route back to the cars. I made lots of mental notes about the course, what might happen at certain points and where I need to be more attentive to the group and their reactions to the terrain. I hope I am ready and can do well in the race. I hope to get in 1 or 2 hard efforts early this week, then taper off to light spinning by the week’s end. Wish me luck!

Catching up

I am really behind on posting updates. I am not going to try and catch up. I’ll just say I have gotten a few training rides in, but nothing to “write” home about. I have done a couple of the easiest recovery rides of my life. I checked the ego at the door as I rolled out the bike and took it super easy. I have had no energy to speak of lately. My hard efforts have been mediocre at best. Training is all about performance gains http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vn29DvMITu4. I have not felt any gains in the last several rides. I’d be an easy target on the bike right now. I have to snap out of this quickly. I am going to recon the TN State Road Race course tomorrow morning. The race is only a week away. Hopefully I can also get lots of rest this weekend. More later.

Great tempo ride

Tuesday
Today was Tempo day. I had 30-40 minutes of warm up and cool down with 60 minutes of tempo riding sandwiched in between. I did this in the National Park heading up a gradual grade. Just before getting into the Park I was buzzed by a car from Georgia. It passed me at about 18 inches away. I pulled into the parking lot where the car had gone. I rolled up to the driver, who was out of the car now. He and his family were about to go tubing on the river. I told him it was a state law in TN to allow 3 feet when passing a cyclist. He said “what cyclist?” “Me” I replied. He asked where he passed me. He, in fact, had not even seen me. His kids admitted that they had seen me and that their dad had passed me very closely. Upon the kids, (teenagers) confirming what I’d said, he was very apologetic. I was very nice and told him I was not mad, just suggesting he pays closer attention in the future. I told him and his family to have fun and be careful as I clipped in and rolled away. I felt really strong and averaged over 200 watts for an hour and 13 minutes with an average speed of 20.6 mph. There was a storm blowing in and I was trying to get finished and out of the Park before I got caught in a downpour. I passed a fellow team member. He got on my wheel and sat on for 3 or 4 miles. We chatted a bit before I broke off to head back. I made it out of the Park before the storm, but the rain started about a mile later. As the rain got stronger, I pulled into a carwash stall and waited. The rain got harder, and then it slacked up. I called my wife and she agreed to come pick me up. As I was waiting, the rain almost stopped. It was just a drizzle, so I decided to head on home. I called my wife again and she told me to stay put because the storm was heading my way and it was pouring there. She was right. It was only a few minutes before the bottom dropped out and the rain fell in sheets. I was freezing from the drop in temperature, the wind and the fact I was soaked in sweat. I could not wait to get into a steaming hot shower. It’s the little things, ya know… My legs were definitely feeling fatigued after this ride. The rain is supposed to be around for the next day or so. At least that’s what the weather says today. We’ll see.

Test, rest, recover

Monday
Today was an easy recovery ride, just an hour and a half of light spinning. I got in most of the light stuff then hooked up with the normal Monday group. They passed me going in the opposite direction so I turned to give chase. They were cooking pretty well when I passed them. I poured all I had into the pedals for several miles. I had them in sight, but could not make the bridge. I backed off and went at my own pace. I knew they stopped about mid way on the ride. I might catch them there. NOT. They had already pulled out when I got to the midpoint of their ride. The slower riders were still there so I decided to continue my “recovery” ride and put in a few more miles with them. I sat in until my turn at the front rolled around. I got up to about 22 mph and held it there for several miles. I got lots of comments when I pulled off. (“great pace, nice pull, you’re killing me”, etc.) I did one more pull before I peeled off for home. I didn’t go too hard, so I still felt fresh and like I had a good recovery ride after all.

Sunday
I did NOTHING Sunday. I did yard work after running errands Saturday, after the LT test. I was dead by the time I finished Saturday night and didn’t feel like doing a thing Sunday, so I didn’t. It’s that simple.

Saturday
Today was the LT test. I’d spent the week recovering, not doing any hard efforts and resting when possible. I headed out around 10 am Saturday morning and was feeling pretty good. I was ready to get this behind me and see what kind of gains I may have made over the past few weeks. That’s about as good as this day got. Once I finished my 30 minute warm up, I didn’t really feel warmed up. I did an additional 10 minutes before starting the 15 minute all out set. I was at the base of the same climb where I’d done this test initially. There was no rain this time, but it was very hot. I was already pouring sweat. I started the climb and pushed hard on the pedals from the start. I was maintaining a high wattage output for about 10 of the 15 minutes. I felt myself starting to fade and was struggling to keep the power high. It seemed like the harder I tried, the more the watts dropped. At 13 minutes I was toast. I stopped the lap on my power meter and turned to descend the hill. It was not a great descent. I could not put out any more effort. I was completely empty. I’d left everything on that hill and hoped I’d get home in a reasonable amount of time. I stopped for a sports drink and rested a few minutes at a local store. I pedaled easy all the way home and the dreaded hill on my road just slayed me! I didn’t think I did well at all today. That was later confirmed. I didn’t do as badly as I’d initially thought, but I made no significant gains in my LT. I also got confirmation that the blood donation on Monday may have been a contributing factor in my less than desired results.

Friday
Today was just an easy day. I was out to run through all my power zones to prepare for the LT test on Saturday. I had done the work and was on the way home when an old fart in a Ford pickup pulling a rusty horse trailer decided he could not wait and pulled right out in front of me. I grabbed both brake levers and almost came to a complete stop. He never checked up. He continued in my lane of travel. He was going pretty slowly and I continued on my course. I was beside him when he decided he was going to take a right turn. I had to take the turn with him and he still nearly ran me into the curb. I was right next to his open window and yelled, “Hey buddy, watch what the hell you’re doing!” His head jerked around and revealed his dumb founded face. He continued to turn and made another right into a vacant lot. He continued across the lot, pulled back onto the road and turned left, the way I had come from. Why in the world did this man not just turn left in the first place instead of taking 2 right turns and nearly taking me out TWICE? People are idiots. I still cannot figure out what he was thinking. I just shook it off, and continued home thankful that I had not been hit.

Does rain make you faster?

I rushed home, kitted up and got on the road as quickly as possible to beat the impending rain. There were dark clouds hanging low in the direction I intended to ride, so I altered my plans and went toward the National Park. I was at the end of my 30 minute warm-up when the rain started falling. I started my isolated leg drills and the rain began DUMPING. I pedaled harder. Does rain make you faster? I think it may. I got in 2 or 3 sets before I pulled off to take shelter from the deluge. It was sunny just a ways down the road so I knew this wouldn't last too long. I sat for only 5 or 6 minutes before it slacked up and I set off again. I was able to finish the 10 sets and make my way back home under dry skies. My biggest challenge of the day was the hill of truth. Since the major dumpage of rain, the road was completely saturated and traction was at a minimum. This is multiplied by the grade of the hill. I could not stand on the climb making the effort more labored due to the seated position. I tried to stay in the middle of the road where the asphalt was not so smooth from years of car traffic. This helped, but I still could not stand for very long without spinning the rear wheel. I could get maybe 2 pedal cranks and have to sit back down. I was only out for about an hour, but I got the work done and felt pretty accomplished considering everything. It was sunny and blazing hot when I arrived back at home, go figure...

Easy ain't always easy

I guess I misunderstood what a week off was. In my mind, I just heard the OFF part. In truth, off is more easy than off. I have short easy workouts each day. So I guess that is still a week off. I was stuck on the trainer this evening. The rain was pouring down as I pedaled away, going nowhere. I was doing 10 sets of spin ups. It went pretty fast, but I was glad when it was over. I think it might have been better to be riding in the driving rain. I gave blood yesterday and I think I am still feeling some of the effects from that process. I should be back to normal soon. I have to be by the end of the week because Saturday is going to be an all out attack of a workout. I will be doing a 15 minute interval at max effort. There should be NOTHING left if I do it correctly. I will be dragging myself home. Sound like fun? Want to go with? Yeah, I thought not...

R & R, Ahhhhh

I got confirmation this morning that I have the week off from training. I can do some light spinning a few days if I want, but no hard efforts. I will be doing LT testing on Saturday. That will be a major effort that I NEED to be rested for. This is all very good timing. I donated blood today and I could not have ridden today if I'd wanted. I was very weak and shaky by the time I got home. There was no energy for a ride of any kind. I am going to kick back and take it easy the rest of the week. I may get out on the bike a couple of days, but will have to stick to my guns and NOT go very hard at all. Can someone hand me a cold one??? Ah, when I wake up.

Lame duck seen on road, film at eleven.

I decided to do Saturday's LT workout today instead of a recovery ride since I didn't get it done on Saturday. I think I mush have still been tired from Saturday because this was a brutally hard workout. I felt really good for each of the 3 sets, but it was very difficult to average the needed power output. I struggled on each set. I hot my mark on the first set but was off on the next 2. I was in my LT zone, but barely. I made it throught the workout, dealt with all the traffic, ran out of water and limped home like a wounded duck. I didn't think I was ever going to get home. I had no energy left at all. I was dreading my hill of truth with every pathetically weak pedal stroke. I pulled myself up that hill and basically collasped on the bike at the top. When I made it home, I couldn't wait to get a cold glass of water, then a glass of choclate milk and another cold glass of water. I had some chicken, rice and vegetables then pretty much fell on the sofa and almost dropped off to sleep in a matter of minutes. I dragged myself to the shower a half hour later and it was a real effort to do that. I am completely wasted. Luckily, tomorrow is better than recovery, it is a day off from ANY training. This is the first one I have had in a while, so I will welcome it with open arms. I may tackle the cables on my Cervelo, otherwise, I'm doing nothing. I will be doing an easy recovery ride on Tuesday then my training is going to be kicked up a notch, so I am told. I don't even want to know what that means. More later...

Small town USA

Before I get started, let me note that I will be ranting in this post and there may be language offensive to some.
I left home around 6:30 am and made my way to meet the group that was leaving at 7:00 am. I figured I’d meet them on the road. I actually made it all the way to the start of the ride before they left. This was actually a plus because I was fully warmed up by the time they were rolling out. The route was one I’d done numerous times and it offers a little of every terrain. There were 24 riders. This was a large group for this ride. I had hoped to work in my regular training, but that did not happen. The pace was pretty good, but there were lots of accelerations and decelerations making a steady output of power very difficult. No worries though, the ride was good and I did my share of work at the front. I felt really good. I was climbing well and my turns at the front were not labored. There are several climbs on this route that are contested. The big climb, Metcalf, never gets any easier. It has about a 22% grade at its steepest. I was 3rd on the way up and finished 2nd at the top. I didn’t leave everything on the climb because I knew we still had a strong, fast, long downhill run of about 7 miles. It, as always, was a blast with lots of curves. This climb and descent are part of the National Park. As we rolled out of the Park and headed back into town, all was going as usual until we came to a red light. The group bunched up at the light, stopping, as we should, for the red light. As the light change and we started to move, we rolled through the intersection and began to get back into a pace line. Before we could get that line completed a police car in the opposing lane of traffic blasted us with the PA speaker telling us to “single up, single file”. We were already working on that. OK, we got the pace line formed, got up to about 29-30 mph and all was going fine again. A few riders did their pull and rotated off the front. I did my pull and as I was rotating off the front, a second police car came barreling up next to me with the cop screaming through the passenger window for me to single up. “What don’t you understand about single file?” he yelled. What does he not understand about that’s where the hell I’m heading. I yelled back that I was heading to the back. He yelled something else, sped up, turned on his blue lights, pulled in front of the group and came to an abrupt stop turning into a pull off. He caused the entire group to grab their brakes and risk crashing into him and each other. What an ASS HOLE! He jumped out of the car, yelling like an idiot and had us all pull off the road where he could continue to yell like a driver suffering from road rage. As I already knew and he made sure to announce, he was the “chief” of police here. I must interject here that I have known “of” the chief and heard good things about him, but this display did not resemble anything I’d heard about this man. My opinion of cops has always been VERY low and this confirmed that even more. He continued to berate us, at the top of his lungs, making stupid remarks and comments that had no merit and made less sense. He even threatened to haul one guy off to jail because he was smiling. What a total ass hole. This is just another good ol’ boy, redneck with a badge and a huge chip on his shoulder. By the way, what happened to cops having to go through a physical training test? He could stand getting off his ass and out for a bike ride or some form of exercise with the gut he is carrying around. There was no talking or reasoning with this prick. He is the typical stereotype of the small town, smart ass cop with no clue! Barney Fife is alive and well, believe me, I saw him at his “best” this morning. The driver of a car waiting to get out of the turn off was shaking her head as she could hear all his ranting. As she came by she spoke to a few of us and said “someone is sure having a bad day”. One rider said “we were…” She replied, “You will again as soon as this nonsense is over.”
I guess he finally thought he’s has his say and made some point, which we have not figured out yet. One of the riders has a column in the local newspaper. I can’t wait to see his rant next week. Again, what an ASS HOLE!!!
I’m done.

Leg drills and descending thrills

Tonight I felt much better before, during and after the ride. I guess I must have rehydrated pretty well. I sipped a mixture of water and Pedialite throughout the night and drank lots of water today. I was only out on the road for 20 miles, about an hour. I did 10 sets of single leg drills. I still had 20 minutes to complete my hour after the 10 sets, so I tagged onto the local Friday night ride and did a bit of climbing. It was fun leading the group up the climbs. Well, the group was down to 3 pretty quickly on the first climb. One of the riders was a team mate who is riding really well this season. Nice job David. This loop ends in a fast, fun descent, 40+ miles per hour. I turned off onto my road at the end of the descent. I still had plenty of energy to attack the hill of truth on my route. I have an early start of 6:30 am in the morning. I am going to do the Saturday ride and work in my 3 x 15 minute sets of LT work. Oh boy! This is going to be fun and challenging. 2 sets are tough, but 3 will be a real test. Plus, working this into a group ride may prove to be very interesting. If it is not working, I may have to break off from the group, do my work and head back solo or try to rejoin the group after I'm done. I'll see how it goes.

Hurry up and suffer

I got home late this evening so I had to rush to get out and get my training done. My planned duration was 2 hours. I had to condense it into just over an hour. This meant a shorter warm-up and cool down. I also ended up shortening the time between efforts. I had to do 10 sets of spin ups with 5 minutes between each. I cut this to 3 minutes between each. Just like yesterday, I felt tired and sluggish leaving the house. I just made up my mind to push through, suffer and go pretty hard for the warm-up. I do this workout on a slight grade. I climb the road for my warm-up and do the efforts on the way down. I usually turn around several times and climb back up during the 3 minutes of recovery. Today I did only 3 efforts on this road and the rest on the ride back home. This gave me only about a 12 minute cool down. I guess the session was okay, nothing great, but I suffered and got it done in record time.

My weight was down 3 pounds this morning, which I am sure was due to dehydration from the hard effort yesterday. This could have been a contributing factor as to how I felt early in today's ride. I drank lots of water today, but probably not enough. I will double up on fluid intake tomorrow. It's bed time. I'll likely fall asleep watching the recap of the Tour.

Dude, where’s my chain?

Wednesday
Another LT workout…dreaded horrors! I got home, got dressed and was out the door pretty quickly hoping to avoid rain. I have to admit I was dragging as I started out. I was almost certain this was going to be a substandard workout because I felt tired and sluggish. I had to tell myself to push on, get it done. I was supposed to do this work out Tuesday, but life got in the way, as they say. (Who’s “they” anyway?)
I started feeling much better as I got about 20 minutes into my warm-up. I went to the National Park and did Monday’s ride backwards, i.e. uphill. I started the lap on my SRM and nailed it. I was flying up this road! It felt like I had no chain on the bike. I kept thinking what is going on here? Dude, where’s my chain? This was, by far, the best LT effort I have done to date. I averaged 19.9 mph on this uphill push of just over 5 miles. I turned around and went back down to do it all one more time. The second 20 minute set HURT. It was MUCH harder to stick the watts. I should have expected this because the 2nd set always seems to be a lot harder. My first set was the highest average watts I have ever done on one of these sets. My second effort was par for the course. The watts dropped, but I stayed in the LT zone. Traffic was pretty heavy in the Park for a Wednesday, but most drivers were pretty courteous and I moved over into pull offs as often as I could to let them pass. However, I did not slow or back off the effort. I pulled off as long as the pavement would allow, then jumped back into the lane. This was a really good workout. I would never have thought it would go so well from the way I felt starting this ride. I was able to get in just under 40 miles in 2 hours with no rain. The worst part of the ride was limping my whipped butt back home. My hill from Hell was waiting on my road home and it was a brutal assault on my legs to get up that grade. I had no trouble falling asleep.

Recovery? Maybe not...

Monday
My scheduled ride was a 1 hour recovery ride. I did the ride, but tacked on a group ride afterwards. It was a lot of fun. I used to be able to do this ride every Monday but lately, my work schedule has not allowed this. I was off Monday, so I got to take part in the ride. I was anxious to see how my training would help because I usually battle with a couple of the guys on the 2 climbs. I faired very well. I stayed right on the wheel of the youngest rider for the first climb and was not overly exerting myself. I felt really strong and relaxed. I gapped him about half way up the second climb. I was completely surprised. He sprinted and got me by a bike length and a half at the line. He used to get me by a huge gap on this climb. At the top he was bent over his handlebars gasping for air. I was winded, but not nearly as bad as in the past. I usually want to toss my cookies at this point of the ride. Either the training is helping or he was having a bad day. I hope it is the training and he had to push harder. He did give out on the descent. We had a nice rotating pace line going (6 riders) and he was slow pulling through each rotation. He finally sat one out and the next time through I asked if he was tired. He said yes and we singled up the pace line. I ended up with 42 miles for the afternoon and still did not push too hard. I’m not sure I really recovered though…
On a lighter note, one of the guys said he uses my blog to help him fall asleep at night. He said reading it just makes him tired.

The Pros and the woes

The Pros and the woes

I am chilling right now with a cup of hazelnut coffee and the Tour on the tube. Life is good. I am supposed to get out for an hour and a half recovery ride today. It will be later in the day. The temps are actually a little cool right now. Arm and knees warmers would be required for the start of a morning ride.
Big George Hincapie was robbed of the yellow jersey yesterday. Many, including George, feel that Lance and his Astana team pulled a crappy move to chase down the breakaway. I agree. I won’t get into all that…on to training.

Equipment
I have had a few questions about my bike, gearing, etc., so, here are the steeds in the stable.
I ride a 51cm Cervélo SLC-SL (Soloist carbon-Super Light) with SRAM Red, 10 speed components, a 11-26 cassette, Quarq Cinco Saturn wireless power meter on a SRAM S900 crankset with a Garmin 705 GPS, FSA bar/stem, Cane Creek Volos clincher wheels and Michelin Pro3 Race tyres.
I also have a 51cm Orbea Opal with Shimano Dura Ace 7800 10 speed group, 12-25 cassette, SRM wired power meter, Zipp bar, Syntace stem, Cane Creek Volos clincher wheels and Michelin Pro3 Race tyres.
My Time Trial bike is a 51cm Orbea Ordu with Shimano Dura Ace 7800 10 speed, 11/23 cassette, Vision bars, Cane Creek Aros 58 carbon tubular wheels with Tufo tyres. I don’t have a power meter on the TT bike. I use the Garmin on this bike.
All my saddles are Selle Italia SLR XP.

I use Look Keo pedals on all 3 bikes.

Saturday
I have to admit I could not get motivated to get out on the bike for this training ride. LT efforts are quickly becoming a dreaded day on my weekly calendar. My ride started with a mechanical issue which sent me back home, up my steep finishing climb, to do some quick shifting adjustments. I didn’t get the issue completely resolved, but it was 90% corrected. It was good enough to get the training ride done. Today, once again, I had to up the anti. Not only are the 2 sets 20 minutes, but I had to insert 10 second jumps every 3 minutes. Doesn’t sound like much, but get out and give it a go. You will change your mind quickly. The jumps are not so hard to throw in the mix. The problem is trying to jump right back into your LT zone after the jump. Your strength is sapped for a few moments as you try to recover, get your breathing under control , get your heart rate back down and get your watts back to the desired level. I was surprised after the very first jump as to how hard it was to maintain my watts. I was, somehow, able to keep my average power output pretty consistent during both sets. I am dreading the day I retest and my LT zone increases. It will be that much harder to get in and stay in that zone. I did the workout on an average grade of 6%. I put in a little over 35 miles in 2 hours. I was scheduled to do 2.5 hours, but the skies looked very threatening, so I cut the warm-up and cool down short. The weather held and here was no rain, so I actually could have stayed out longer. But, I was pretty much spent by the end of the ride, so I don’t regret cutting it short. I worked on the bike once I got home, but a new set of cables and housings are in my very near future.

Friday
Today I worked on single leg isolations. I was out for an hour and did about 20 miles. I felt pretty good during this workout. I can definitely tell a difference in my pedal stroke as a result of doing these drills over the last couple of months. I also note that my power output is more consistent from leg to leg.

Thursday
10 sets of jump sprints; this workout was about what I expected. I'd call this an average workout. I felt sluggish and it got seemingly worse as it went. I was surprised by the watts on the last set though, over 1000 watts and this workout was just to work on jumping to start a sprint, not an all out sprint effort. I was out for an hour and a half, 28 miles.

Back to basics

AHHH, recovery! Monday I had a nice relaxed recovery ride. I was out for a little over an hour. I did hook onto the Monday group ride for a few miles, but I stayed with the B group most of the time to keep my effort in check. I jumped on the train of the A group on the way bck into town and work my way through the rotation. I did one short pull and peeled off to ride home alone.
Tuesday it was back to the hard stuff. I did an aerobic capacity workout much like last week's but instead of 6 x 3 minute sets, I had to do 8 sets at 3 minutes each. It was an intense session, but I didn't feel as wasted as when I did only 6 sets a week ago. My legs a a little sore this morning, but no worries, I'm sure I will work that out tonight.

Tour of Possum Creek Road Race

What a weekend. I went out for a quick ride Friday night just to open up the legs. I did a little over an hour. No major stress on the legs, just 10 sets of spin ups. I got home, showered, loaded my gear and headed to Kingsport, TN. My race was just across the TN/VA line in Yuma, VA. The drive was not bad and I had a primo spot waiting for me on the floor of a hotel room occupied by 2 team mates. I threw down a padded exercise mat, a pillow and a blanket. Home, sweet, home. We were shocked that the hotel did not have VS. This meant no Tour de France coverage. Bummer! Luckily I’d seen the day’s Stage at work via streaming video on my computer. The other 2 had not been so lucky and were really bummed. We talked and carried on for a couple hours before, one by one, we gave in to the need for sleep. We had to be up for an early breakfast, a short drive to the start of the race and hopefully a good warm-up before the race.
Saturday we were up and out of the hotel heading to a Waffle House for breakfast. Go figure that one. I had brought my food and already had a bagel with peanut butter and a bowl of cereal. I just wanted a couple of eggs for some additional protein. Of course, my eggs came with grits, toast and coffee. Who am I to waste food? I knew immediately I’d regret eating so much even though I still have almost 2 hours before the race. My standard practice is to eat 3 hours prior to an event and have a shot of energy gel about 15 minutes before the start. That was already out the window.
We arrived at the race venue in only a few minutes. We were registered and pinning on our numbers in a matter of minutes. One of my team mates’ race started a half hour sooner than mine. I got my gear together and set out for a warm up ride and to get a look at the approach to the finish. There was a nasty patch of loose gravel right in the intersection of the last left hand turn before the finish. I told the race organizer and I saw him shortly after heading that way with a push broom.
Against my better judgment, I tried a new energy drink in one water bottle, untested prior to this race.
I regretted this after only a couple of sips. I tried to dilute it, as it was way too strong. I should have just gone with water.
The race started about 20 minutes behind schedule. The pace was not all out from the gun as I expected. This was a nice surprise. I quickly moved toward the front and settled in about a third of the way from the front. We were going about 24-25 mph at this point. Within the first 5 miles one rider flatted. He was able to change wheels and get back to the group with the help of one of his team mates.
One unusual thing about this course was a left turn that took us into a tunnel. Well, it was actually an underpass with a concrete divider separating the lanes. I don’t think it was planned, but on each of the 2 laps, riders went on both sides as we went through. I always took the right side as that was the correct lane of traffic. Luckily, we never face oncoming traffic in that area. The roads were open for traffic, so this was a possibility. Weather conditions were really good. The temperature was in the high 70’s for the start.
The race started heating up with accelerations and several breaks. They were all brought back pretty quickly. I was quite happy with my performance because I was able to stay with the group and match all the accelerations. The first lap was basically uneventful. I was just staying very attentive and watching everything that was happening. I was saving energy by staying tucked into the draft of the other riders. I was able to snag a bottle of water at the feed zone. I chugged it down pretty quickly, tossed the bottle and it was back to business. The wind picked up on the second lap and created a bit of a challenge as it was a crosswind that angled from the front/left of the group. It was hard to find that sweet spot in the draft. There were 3 predominate teams in the bunch. I knew they were the ones to watch. I had all sorts of scenarios running in my head as to how this race would play out. I felt sure it would come down to a bunch sprint finish. One team had five riders and I was certain they would be the team to beat. I was almost certain that I could not win in the final sprint, but I was also unsure of my ability to make a breakaway stick. I felt really good, but once out front on your own, energy would be sapped quickly. Well, sometimes, you just take the hand you are dealt. About 5 k to go we started up one of the last climbs. There was one rider off the front about 25 meters. As we went up the climb I found myself moving up through the group with what seemed like little effort. I passed everyone, including the guy off the front. I felt sure he would jump on my wheel. He didn’t. As I crested the hill, I looked back and no one was on my wheel. There was actually a gap opening up. One again, I knew I could not win in a field sprint with this group, so, I put my head down, got in the drops and dropped the hammer. I took a flyer and it was on. I had to give it all I had and hope for the best. I hit over 30 mph on this short gradual descent. I glanced over my shoulder or under my arm every so often to see where the peloton was. I pushed as hard as I could. My legs were screaming! I was averaging about 27 mph and trying my best to go faster. At 2 k to go I could tell the group was getting closer. I was not going to make it to the line ahead of them. I was determined that I would not get spit out the back. I would finish with the group somehow. At 1k to go I was swept up by the bunch. I stood to accelerate and stay with them. NOOOO protested my legs. I was immediately back in the saddle and hammering all I had left to turn the pedals faster. I managed to lock on before getting passed by all the riders. I stood again to sprint for the line. 2 riders in front of me seemed to give up, which was their mistake and lucky for me. I was able to sprint past them and gain a couple more places in the finish. I left EVERYTHING I had on the road. I was completely cooked. I was sure I was going to lose my breakfast but the feeling passed as I slowed the pace and continued spinning to clear the lactate acid from my legs and cool down. I had several riders come by saying things like, they thought I was gone for sure, great move, strong effort and one guy I have ridden with on training rides said he was the lead rider chasing me down. He said they were pushing 28-30 mph to make the catch. Though I placed 16th in the field, I think this was a very successful race. I was able to stay with the pack, conserve energy, match all the accelerations, get in a solo break for 3k, finish with the group and still finish ahead of other riders. A little over 2 hours and 57 miles later, I was pumped, (after I was able to breathe again). I had lunch with my team mates and headed home that afternoon very content with the day’s events.

No fun AT ALL

Monday’s workout was supposed to be my easy spin day. It started that way. For the most part, I did get in an hour or so of easy riding, but I got in on part of a group ride as well. I passed them on the road and turned around to join in the pace line. I gave chase and realized that there must be some heavy hitters on the front of that group because I was not gaining very quickly. I pushed harder and harder and finally gave in to the fact that I would not catch them on my own. I knew they would be stopping soon to regroup, so I would join them then. I rolled up, spoke to a few of the guys and decided to take an all natural break. When I got back to my bike, they were all back on the road. I was back in chase mode. Once again, I was firing all cylinders to bridge to them. Once again, I could not make the catch. I met them at the next regrouping area and scolded them for their lack of sportsmanship. Of course, they laughed and said they didn’t know I was not with them. Blah, blah, blah. I did not miss the start when they rolled out this time. I stayed right in the front 5, did my pull and my day was done. I dropped off at the turn leading to my house, and limped home. The hill I climbed every day was still waiting. I managed to look at my GPS as I climbed it and the gradient starts at 4% and goes up steadily to 19%! I knew it was steep, but not THAT steep.

I missed my Tuesday training ride and had to play catch up on Wednesday. I had a 2 hour ride with 6 sets of 4 minute intervals at aerobic capacity. This was an extremely difficult workout; not because of the intervals, but because I just did not have any snap. My legs felt dead and heavy. It was a struggle to get and stay into the proper power zone. I hope tonight’s ride is much better.

Weekend watts & the Tour

Saturday’s workout was not fun. It was very hard to maintain LT for each 20 minute set. Just like last time, I had to fight on the second set to keep my power output where I wanted. Plus these sets were 5 minutes longer than my last session at LT. I am still fighting with some chest congestion and I had a coughing attack during the second set which made it really hard to maintain the effort. I may have left part of a lung on the road. It felt as if I did anyway.
I managed to nail the first set, spot on, but my average dropped by 5 watts on the second. I still averaged in the upper part of my LT zone, but I’d like to get into the very top end of that zone. There were very few cyclists on the road Saturday afternoon. I guess most got their ride in Saturday morning in order to celebrate the 4th. I only saw 5 others on the road in the 2+ hours I was training.
I didn’t make it out for a spin Sunday. I choose to practice full recovery as opposed to active recovery. I watched Stage 2 of the Tour. I will get in an active recovery ride this afternoon if the weather allows. The forecast is for afternoon rain and thunder showers. I doubt an easy effort would be enjoyable in the rain. I’ll opt for the trainer if the storms move in as predicted.
There is a race this weekend but I have not committed to it at this point. I may just train this weekend. I will have to make that decision soon as the race is pre-register only.

Coffee, Tour de France, training, a nice way to start the 4th of July

Happy 4th of July! I went out for an hour long workout yesterday. I concentrated on single leg drills of 30 seconds each. Great workout. Very intense, high wattage hour. Today is a monster workout. I will be doing 2 LT sets of 20 minutes each. This will not be fun. I am having coffee, watching Stage 1 of the 2009 Tour de France. Lance just started his Prolouge effort. I'll be heading out for my training in an hour or so while the temps are bearable.

This ain't your momma's aerobics!

“Should have been a ridiculously hard workout.” That’s what my coach said after I sent him my ride data today. Oh, it was. I never expected 3 minute intervals to hurt so much. WOW! I was toast after this workout. I had 6 sets of 3 minute intervals at my aerobic capacity which is pushing 300 watts. I easily averaged 27, leg burning, mph on each interval. I was only out on the bike for an hour and a half, but I felt like I’d done a 5 hour ride afterwards. Focused training is much more intense than junk miles on a group ride. Don’t get me wrong, I like to hammer and ego bash as much as the next guy on the local group outings, but if that’s all you do, you get no significant gains. You are riding a lot, but a lot of what? JUNK miles, that’s what. It took me several years to realize this. There is no sense in killing yourself putting in thousands of miles each year and getting no real results or gains in your abilities. I have not dominated any races this season, but I started seriously training late and got in almost no base miles over the winter. I plan on huge improvements by this time next year. I can already tell I can go harder and stronger in only a few weeks. That can only improve with consistent training. I am now starting to get back to a strict, healthy diet. I need to drop some lbs to make needed gains in my climbing abilities. 8 to 10 pounds would be great if I can do it without sacrificing strength. The goal is to increase my strength to weight ratio. Less weight, same strength=faster. Added strength on top of that would be even better. I’m on my way, if the training doesn’t kill me in the process. BTW, the legs feel much better. That’s kind of a surprise after the ride on the “pain train” today. The photo is not from today, but sums up how I felt after the ride.

World of hurt

July 1, 2009
I am pretty sore this morning. My legs were screaming when I got out of bed this morning. While walking Ruby, my dachshund, she tore out after a cat on a downhill slope and I cringed as I ran down the hill trying to keep her pace. I hope my recovery spin helps the pain. I'm heading out shortly.

June 30, 2009
I took the Cervélo out with the Quarq power meter. I did a quick test on my road and all seemed to be working fine, so I decided to do my training ride on this bike. I choose a moderate climb of 2-4% for the LT workout. I got in a good warm-up and hit the climb hard. I was amazed how good I felt. I stayed in the big ring for the entire workout, spinning at about 90 rpm. I did the first 15 minute interval with ease. I could feel that I was going hard from the pain in the legs, but I still felt really good. I turned around and blasted down the hill to get ready for the second interval. I started out strong again, but soon found it hard to maintain my desired watts without a very concentrated mental effort. I would find myself drifting from the average I needed to maintain and have to kick up the pace to get there. By the end of the interval I managed to lose only 3 watts on my average from the first interval. I welcomed turning around for the downhill ride. I knew I was cooked when I could not get up to speed on the descent. Once off the climb I shifted to the small ring and spun home. I had nothing left. The gradual, but tough climb that I always face on the road I live on was no fun. I was in my highest gear and really digging deep to get home. Once there, I had a recovery drink and got out the “stick” to roll my legs. This was very painful. This self torture is to push the lactic acid from the muscles to improve and promote recovery of the muscles. It is always painful, but beneficial. I had a knot in my right quad that was particularly difficult. I winced every time I pulled the stick across this knot. I was able to reduce it a bit, but I still have a knot there. I will continue to work on it tomorrow before my recovery ride.

Training again...

June 29, 2009
It’s time to get back out on the road. My cold is much better; I am just dealing with sinus issues at this point. No more time to waste, I have to get back to training. My planned ride for Monday was an easy one hour spin to loosen up the legs and prepare for the harder work ahead this week. Well, that happened, but I also met up with a group ride midway into the spin and went harder than I expected or should have. I did several long, hard, fast pulls on the front. Great weather, low humidity and I felt really strong considering I’d been off the bike for a week. I averaged 26-28 mph on all of my pulls. My quads are pretty sore today (Tuesday).
On another note, I got home yesterday to find my power meter waiting, a day earlier than I expected. Quarq is a great company. I have been very impressed with their customer service. I actually get a real person on the phone when I call them. They also answer emails very quickly, usually in a matter of hours, not days. Plus they send out swag. I have gotten 2 t-shirts and 2 water bottles at no cost. I got the crank back on the bike last night and will give it a try tonight or Wednesday. I want to be sure it is set up and working correctly before I get out on a training ride. I don’t want to lose any more data. I also found, during the installation, that my free hub body was loose. I think I got it tight, but I have never dealt with a free hub problem before. I’ll see how it goes on the next outing.

Great customer service

I contacted Quarq, via email, about my power meter. I have had it for almost a year now. They responded very quickly, asked some questions to try and determine the problem and decided to replace AND upgrade my unit to the newer version that they now offer at NO cost, not even shipping to or from their factory. Now that's customer service! I should be riding the new one by early next week. SWEET!

TOO HOT!!! This is insane.

June 22, 2009
1 hour of training this afternoon. I waited until 6pm to get on the road. The temperature was pretty nice along the river. I was frustrated from the start because my power meter failed me again. It will probably have to go back to the mother ship to be serviced. I emailed the manufacturer as soon as I got home. Training was a non-eventful effort. I did the work but it was not a stellar day on the bike. My coach emailed me late this evening and said he too was fighting a cold and for me to take it easy this week. I think I will.

Jun 21, 2009
Father’s Day. Did absolutely NOTHING! I seem to have a summer cold though, not good.

June 20, 2009
Avery Trace Road Race (see map and profile). One word can sum up this race HOT! This has got to be the worst race I have ever done. I felt great here 2 years ago as a Cat 5. I placed second that day as my daughter watched. No chance of that this year as a Cat 4. My race was scheduled to start at 10:45. The team mate riding with me had a start time of 9:45. I misjudged the time needed to get there along with the time change to Central time in order for him to have an adequate warm-up. I, however, was able to get in a 45 minute warm-up. It was already 95 degrees and the humidity was between 80 & 90%. You were pouring sweat just standing still. I drank a bottle of water on the way over and another ½ bottle during my warm-up. I was taking 3 bottles with me for the race. I also had a flask of energy gel. I got my spare wheels to the wheel truck and took my place at the start line. There was a neutral start for about ¾ of a mile. There was immediately a hill to climb. I was on the outside skirting the double yellow line. I managed to get behind a rider who was brake happy and could not hold his line. He almost took me out several times in the first few miles. Within 5 miles someone tried to pass on the right. He got too close to the edge of the road and bumped another rider. This domino effect took down about 5 riders. I had to swing wide into the other lane to avoid going down due to ever y one moving over to avoid the crash. The first 3 climbs were okay, but taxing. I was able to get a position at the front of the pack on the approach of each climb. I’d drift toward the back as we reached the top of the climb and I could easily regain my position on the descents. The descents up to this point were fast and fun, but even at 35-40mph, the wind in our faces was like a hair dryer blowing on us. On the 3rd descent a team mate and I were pushed to the outside of a sharp left turn by a rider who could not hold his line. I stood up and gave a few cranks of the pedals to get ahead of him and avoid going off the road. Someone a few places back was not so lucky. He left the road and slammed into a rock face along the road. I am not sure how badly he was hurt. The race does not stop for a crash if you are lucky enough to not be involved. The forth climb proved to be the breaking point for a lot of riders, including me. There was a gap by the top of the climb. I was with a group of 7 other riders, the main pack was ahead and there were riders scattered along the climb behind my group. The front group was well in sight and it was clear that if we all worked together we could bridge back to them. My team mate took the first pull at 27 mph. I was next and held 26.6 mph. When I pulled off the front, the riders behind followed and held my wheel. I move back to the right, brought the pace back to 26mph and pulled off again with the flick of my right elbow. Again, they held my wheel. I am not one to give instructions to other riders, but at this point I was hot, frustrated and getting very pissed at the lack of cooperation these guys were showing. I turned and yelled, “If you guys want to catch them you are going to have to get off your asses and do some work!” My team mate yelled back, “that’s right, let’s go”. He moved to the front again and did another turn. I followed him with another go at the front. When I pulled off the rider behind me pulled through, but let the pace drop to about 23mph. The next rider dropped to 22 mph. They all did a turn at the front for about 2 rotations and then started sucking wheels again. “This isn’t going to work” proclaimed my team mate. There was no way we’d bridge the gap at this pace. He and I sat up and rested a minute. We got back on the front and eventually pulled away from those guys. We knew that the 2 of us could not catch the peloton, but we were not going to pull those guys along either.
We had seen lots of riders from several categories turning back and giving up on the race due to the intense, brutal heat. It had hit 97 degrees at our start.
The 2 of us were only about 20 miles in and having chills and feeling very much like we’d lose our breakfast at any moment. I had already dumped a bottle of water over my head and downed a bottle and a half. I was not sweating; it was more like I was leaking. I had to take my sunglasses off because of the constant stream of sweat running down them. They were no use to me as I could see nothing through the lenses. I saw a man in his yard and a water hose stretched across the yard. I signaled to my mate that I was going to ask for water. I pulled over and asked if he’d be a gentleman and let us fill our bottles with water. His reply, “you can get some water, but I ain’t about to start being no gentleman.” Fair enough! We unhooked the hose from the faucet, filled a bottle each and dumped them over our heads. Then we each guzzled a bottle and filled 3 each for the road. His wife came out and offered us water from the house and ice, but we declined. The water from the yard was plenty cold. We mounted our bikes and proceeded. We had already resigned to the idea that this was no longer a race. It was just a Saturday training ride; a very sucky training ride at that. We both started to quit and turn back, but we knew we would not be reimbursed for our entry fee if we didn’t finish. We soldiered on at a disgracefully slow pace. When we came upon the feed zone we asked if there was anything left. We got a bottle of water and a coke. I drank the coke. It was the first real coke I’d had in about 15 years. It was SO good. We were now about 32 miles into this 57 mile course. We dragged ourselves over the remaining miles. We would ride with a guy here and there, but ended up just the 2 of us until the last 10 miles or so. We were in a group of 6 when we hit the next to the last climb. When I looked back, there were only 3 of us left at the top. We worked together until the final finishing climb. My team mate opened up a gap between him and the other rider. I was done. I watched them get a gap on me but didn’t fall too far behind. What a relief it was to cross that finish line. I did not care about the race or where I finished, just that I WAS finished! I drank 6 or 7 bottles of water, poured 3 bottles over my head and still manage to lose almost 6 pounds of fluid in the 2 hours and 51 minutes of pure, brutal torture spent on that road. I had nothing left in my tank. I had already decided that I was not about to attempt the Time Trial that afternoon, not in this heat. This was insane my worst day racing on a bike.